Integrated Urban Energy Planning: A Case-Study Using Optimization

Abstract

This article describes an integrated energy planning optimization case-study. Starting from an integrated urban energy planning practice based on the urban planning information, an optimization approach is implemented to support decisions on suitable energy structures. Based on a use-case, energy demand, renewable energy resources, energy policy and energy prices are analyzed and set as inputs of the optimization. The results are energy structures minimizing the cost for two separated zones. Meanwhile, under different scenarios, in terms of renewable ratio targets and thermal storage, comparison is made for illustrating economy differences. The optimization mentioned in the article is modelled as a Mixed-Integer Linear Programming problem, which can search the optimal solution with high efficiency among the possible system designs.

Challenges Ahead for Sustainable Cities: An Urban Form and Transport System Review

“…Considering land use as an example: Although it is considered a planning tool for energy efficiency, in many cities, the lack of coordination between urban planning and city-wide energy planning led to large patches of single land use, an inefficient solution [25,[133][134][135]. Nowadays the relationship between urban and energy planning is largely present in current energy-optimized city planning [133,[136][137][138][139]. For a detailed critical literature review on the importance of coordinating urban and energy planning, see [44].…”